WQCS00210_NOI_NOV2020DV0019_Response_20200121

Council Members
Barry Kaufman, Mayor
Jimmie Accardi, Vice Mayor
Weidner Abernethy
Kelly Melang
Erin Gonyea
/\#\ BEECH
MOUNTAIN
NORTH CAROLI N,
Eastern America's Highest Town
Lon T. Snider, Regional Supervisor
NCDEQ-DWR
450 West Hanes Mill Road, Suite 300
Winston Salem, NC, 27105
SUBJECT: RESPONSE TO NOVAOI NOTICE
INCIDENT NUMBER — 201901663
Interim Town
Manaeer
Bob Rodney
Town Attorney
Stacy C. Eggers IV
Envi onmental quality
Received
JAN 21 2020
Winston-Salem C
Regional Office
267 Greenbriar Rd.
-'- _ —Collection System PermirNu. WQCS002-10
Beech Mountain Collection System
Watauga County
The Town of Beech Mountain received notice on January 16d', 2020 with a NOV/NOI issuance
concerning the Sanitary Sewer Overflow at 267 Greenbriar Rd. occurring on October 22, 2019.
This letter explains the situation and response.
On the morning of October 22"d, 2019 on or about 9AM we at the Public Utilities Department
received notice of an occurring sanitary spill on Pond Creek. We took immediate action to find
the spill site as it was described to us by an email from Andrea Leslie of NC Wildlife. Andrea
notified us of an email she received from one of their inspectors while they were investigating
another site nearby on Pond Creek. From the description given, we were able to find the
problem area quickly and begin repairs.
The situation we found was that an abandoned section of collection system piping had been
uncovered along the creek bank from an earlier time in Beech Mountain history. About 50 feet
of pipe had been exposed by summer rains that simply ended near the edge of the bank. A small
waste flow was discharging from the pipe.. It was off the roadway on the outfall line, about 300
feet down a walking trail along the Creekside and was hidden underneath a bank of laurel
bushes.
We rented a small excavator that would be able to access the site for repairs quickly and had
begun digging for repair operations by 1PM that same day. It was obviously going into the side
of the nearest manhole. We found that this exposed pipe was not evident inside that manhole as
an outlet. We entered the manhole for closer inspection and found that in the poured concrete. of
the invert there was a small broken away section of the concrete in a half moon shape and very
narrow. We then understood that sometime in the past the section of pipe we were following
into the manhole had been abandoned and grouted from the inside to close off the section. Over
time, a piece of that grout had broken and was allowing flow from the manhole to seep down that
section of pipe. We judged that this had been happening only for a short time because the edge
of the breakaway was still jagged and sharp, not showing any sign of smoothing and wear from
flow.
xv .townofbeechmountain.com

Council Members
Barry Kaufman, Mayor
Jimmie Accardy Vice Mayor
Weidner.Abemethy
Kelly Melang
Erin Gonyea
/4ABEECH
MOUNTAIN
N O R T H C A R D L I N A
Eastern America's Highest Town
Interim Town
Manaeet
Bob Pudney
Town Attorney
Stacy C. Eggers IV
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Repairs were made quickly. We knocked out and grouted again inside the manhole. We cut
away andremov�ed:the pipe section outside the manhole and grouted from the outside in as well.
Removed the old pieces of pipe and limed the site. There was not visible presence of solids
anywhere:onsite'011 was a small crack allowing water to pass through. We were off the site by
5PM that's"ameidhr l
We had no idea that this pipe was there. It was not on any map, and the invert had to be seen up
close from'a side view to even see the broken area. We have spent a lot of time an effort here on
Beech Mountain to accurately map and understand our collection system as it has evolved
through the years. We have GIS mapping and data collection, manhole mapping systems
complete with inspection and grading of the manholes and photos of interior and top of most all
of them to aid us in operation and maintenance of our system into the future. We also have our
own Jet/Vac truck and camera gear to allow us to continually maintain knowledge and cleaning
of the system. We have had all these things for years which speaks to our commitment to proper
operations in our system.
I hope that this explanation shows that it was completely accidental, and we could have in no
way foreseen this spill. Also, that we responded quickly and efficiently to the situation and
effected proper and lasting change to this site to prevent any further occurrence.
Please consider our efforts to continually provide an excellent system of use and protection for
our residents and our environment. Please contact me with any questions at 828-387-9282 or
[e-mail].
-- - — — - - — Thank you,
1
Daniel Davis
Public Utilities Superintendent
Town of Beech Mountain
www.townofbeechmountain.com